Federal Labor Guidance
Free plain-English summaries of opinion letters, administrative policies, and interpretive notices from the U.S. Department of Labor, with the current status and the official source on every page.
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Verifying immigration status for unemployment claims
ETA explained what state unemployment agencies should do when an immigration status check does not verify a claimant's identity or work authorization. Agencies must give the claimant a reasonable…
FMLA and disability or workers' compensation absences
WHD explained how FMLA interacts with temporary disability and workers' compensation absences. Where the condition qualifies, an employer may designate the absence as FMLA leave, but neither side…
FMLA alongside a more generous employer leave plan
WHD addressed an employer plan providing more than 12 weeks of leave. It said qualifying leave may run concurrently with FMLA leave after written designation, while leave before an employee becomes…
Secure fastening of a plastic pump shaft guard
A manufacturer asked whether a snap-on plastic shield could guard a pump shaft without fasteners. OSHA said a casing must resist accidental displacement and easy removal by unauthorized people.…
Scaffold erection access and fall protection enforcement
OSHA told regional offices how to handle scaffold erection and dismantling citations while it developed Appendix B guidance. The memo required national review before certain citations and described…
Therapy and restricted duty under 1997 injury recordkeeping guidance
An employer asked when a workplace stretching therapy program, same-day restrictions and repeat heat or cold treatment made injuries recordable. OSHA treated repeated on-site therapy for symptoms as…
Internet distribution of material safety data sheets
A utility employee suggested requiring manufacturers to post material safety data sheets online and put web addresses on product labels. OSHA declined a fixed delivery format under its hazard…
Titanium dioxide hazard communication in material safety data sheets
A company asked whether titanium dioxide had to be reported as a carcinogen on a material safety data sheet. OSHA said it did not then regulate titanium dioxide as a carcinogen, but hazard…
Alternative glove materials under the bloodborne pathogens rule
A university safety officer asked whether protective gloves could use materials other than latex or vinyl. OSHA said its bloodborne pathogens rule requires appropriate protection without prescribing…
North Carolina hospital association pension as governmental
A county hospital association asked whether its employee pension plan was excluded from ERISA Title I. EBSA found the county’s appointment and control of trustees, financial support, and statutory…
Application of HAZWOPER to universal-waste facilities
A recycling company asked whether HAZWOPER paragraph (p) covered employees at universal-waste destination facilities and handlers. OSHA said destination facilities subject to RCRA Parts 264 and 265…
HAZWOPER coverage of groundwater sampling at contaminated sites
An employer asked whether employees bailing groundwater samples from monitoring wells had to follow OSHA’s HAZWOPER requirements. OSHA said preliminary investigations and voluntary cleanup work at…
Routine asbestos inspections and Class III bulk sampling
A requester asked how asbestos inspections, bulk sampling, and training fit OSHA’s construction asbestos standard. OSHA said sampling suspect material is Class III work when the material contains…
HAZWOPER illumination requirements for RCRA facilities
A waste-management company asked whether OSHA’s HAZWOPER illumination table applied to indoor storage areas at a RCRA-permitted treatment, storage, and disposal facility. OSHA said those facilities…
Good-faith searches for employee medical records
A medical-records service asked how OSHA would treat an employer that could not locate some pre-1992 chest X-rays despite repeated efforts. OSHA said an employer must make a good-faith, diligent…
Glove monitoring devices in medical procedures
A member of Congress asked OSHA to recommend electronic devices that alert healthcare workers when a glove tears. OSHA said it does not endorse medical devices and would evaluate any workplace use…
Employer-stock ownership limits after preferred-share conversion
A requester asked whether other holders’ redemption or conversion of preferred employer shares forced a plan to retest ERISA section 407(f)(1) limits. EBSA said the test applies on a direct or…
Guards for metal-center grinding wheels
A grinding-wheel maker asked whether a guard must contain an entire metal-center wheel or just its abrasive rim if the wheel fails. OSHA said its abrasive-wheel guarding provision excludes…
Use of a nonapproved emergency respirator
A power company asked OSHA to accept a nonapproved respirator for tactical emergency situations. OSHA said NIOSH approves respirators, and OSHA may consider a nonapproved component only in rare,…
Minimum disaster unemployment benefits for October–December 1997
ETA supplied a state-by-state table of average weekly unemployment benefits, calculated 50 percent amounts, and rounded minimum Disaster Unemployment Assistance benefits. The figures applied to…
Proposal for a national electronic safety data sheet repository
A senator asked OSHA about a proposal for a central electronic repository of material safety data sheets. OSHA said electronic delivery can provide immediate access to hazard information, but it did…
OSHA nursing home inspection initiative
A long-term-care association raised concerns about OSHA’s nursing home inspection initiative, including inspector training and residents’ privacy. OSHA said it considered the inspection framework…
Fall protection in aerial lifts for electric power work
An electric utility asked which fall protection rules apply to workers in vehicle-mounted aerial lifts under the electric power standard. OSHA said fall arrest or work-positioning equipment must…
1997 federal budget and tax amendments affecting unemployment insurance
ETA explained how the 1997 Balanced Budget Act and Taxpayer Relief Act affected state unemployment insurance programs. The letter covers new hire data disclosures, state base period rules, Reed Act…
Advanced risk analysis training for state unemployment agencies
ETA announced advanced risk analysis classes for state unemployment insurance security staff in early 1998. It asked state administrators to assess their risk analysis plans, complete a full or…
Glove selection for glutaraldehyde exposure
A healthcare employer asked whether latex surgical gloves protect workers handling glutaraldehyde. OSHA said gloves should be impervious to the chemical, identified materials it considered suitable,…
Effect of City of Boerne on religious freedom claims in unemployment insurance
ETA told state unemployment agencies that the Supreme Court's City of Boerne decision invalidated the Religious Freedom Restoration Act as applied to state and local laws. It said neutral, generally…
Head Start workers and unemployment benefits between school terms
ETA says Head Start workers employed by community action groups generally are not treated as employees of an educational institution for the federal between-term unemployment benefit denial. Workers…
Affiliate insurer premium test for ERISA exemption
An employer asked whether a joint insurance arrangement between its affiliate Dorinco and Metropolitan met ERISA's section 408(b)(5) exemption. The Department said the described arrangement met the…
Plan-owned administrator and prohibited transactions
A multiple employer pension fund asked about forming a wholly owned corporation to serve employers and other plans, while the fund kept its own staff. EBSA said transactions with the wholly owned…
Shearing plastic syringe ends in a sharps collection system
A sharps-system supplier asked whether its device could shear the plastic end of a syringe before the needle dropped into a sharps container. OSHA said the bloodborne pathogens standard does not…
Hepatitis B vaccination records and tuberculosis testing offers
An employer asked whether a newly hired worker with a prior hepatitis B vaccination needed a fresh medical opinion, and which workers should be offered TB testing. OSHA said the prior vaccine series…
Joint labor enforcement initiative in poultry plants
A member of the public asked the Labor Department to form a poultry-industry task force. OSHA said it and the Wage and Hour Division were planning outreach and an enforcement survey to identify…
Two-person requirement for Class I asbestos glovebag work
A senator asked what each of the two people required for Class I asbestos glovebag removal must do. OSHA said the rule does not assign separate tasks; two people are required because a standard…
United Methodist care organization church plans
A Pennsylvania care organization affiliated with the United Methodist Church asked whether its employee benefit plans were church plans. EBSA agreed with a submitted IRS private ruling to the extent…
Use and accounting of Reed Act unemployment funds
ETA consolidated instructions for states on accounting for and using Reed Act funds transferred to their Unemployment Trust Fund accounts. Its attachments explain the legal conditions on…
New Jersey disability benefits through a broader ERISA plan
A New Jersey college association asked whether its disability program was exempt as a plan maintained solely to comply with state law. EBSA said each school’s plan offered benefits beyond the…
Miami Beach police insurance trust as governmental
A police insurance trust asked whether union administration prevented governmental-plan status. EBSA said coverage limited to current and former city police officers, union membership limited to…
Recording food-related illness after a required workplace lunch
An employer asked whether illnesses after a required on-site business lunch belonged on its OSHA 200 logs. Under its then-current recordkeeping guidance, OSHA said illness from the meal was…
Asbestos classification of wallboard and joint compound
An environmental-services company asked how OSHA classifies wallboard and joint compound under the construction asbestos standard. OSHA said they are separate materials for asbestos analysis, and…
Recording adverse reactions to medication taken at work
A law firm asked whether an adverse reaction to medication taken at work for a personal condition counted as a work-related injury. Under OSHA’s former recordkeeping guidance, OSHA said the on-site…
Medical treatment and repeat cases on former OSHA injury logs
An automaker asked when several treatments and repeat symptoms counted as recordable cases. Under OSHA’s former recordkeeping guidance, the letter treated prescribed antibiotics as medical…
Recording symptoms after a preexisting off-duty injury
An employer asked whether a worker’s back symptoms after an off-duty car accident belonged on its injury log. Under OSHA’s former guidance, OSHA said the case was work-related because workplace…
Repeat cold-compress treatment on former OSHA injury logs
An aircraft employer asked whether a second cold pack for the same workplace bruise changed a case from first aid to medical treatment. Under OSHA’s former recordkeeping guidance, the letter said…
Over-the-counter medicines and former OSHA log recordability
A physician asked whether writing a prescription for an over-the-counter medicine made a workplace injury recordable. Under OSHA’s former guidance, the letter said the drug remained nonprescription…
Annual training under the bloodborne pathogens standard
A healthcare professional asked why bloodborne pathogens training had to recur each year. OSHA said exposed workers need training at initial assignment and at least annually, with additional…
Mutual-fund fees reimbursing sponsor plan expenses
A plan sponsor asked whether it could receive fees from mutual funds offered to its pension participants. EBSA said the fund payments could count as reimbursement only to the extent the plan and…
Firefighter protective clothing for structural and proximity fires
A Navy fire-service director asked which protective clothing firefighters needed when moving between structural, airfield, petroleum, and rescue duties. OSHA said the clothing should match the…
Correction to OSHA first aid training directive
OSHA notified regional administrators that a first aid training directive incorrectly said the National Safety Council did not conduct courses or certify trainers and trainees. The memo said the…
Asbestos checks before renovation of post-1980 buildings
A building owner asked whether records alone could establish that a post-1980 building lacked asbestos before renovation or demolition. OSHA said those buildings do not carry the same presumption…
Ladder access to flatbed trailers in construction
A contractor asked whether steps or ladders were required to get on and off a flatbed trailer. OSHA said its construction ladder rule was broadly worded enough to reach vehicle platforms, but it had…
Fall protection on communication towers and fixed ladders
A tower company asked whether enclosed ladder-safety hardware was required on communication towers. OSHA said no rule required a tower without a fixed ladder to have a ladder-safety device, but…
Competent-person inspections of scaffolds before each shift
A scaffold contractor asked whether the scaffold builder had to inspect a scaffold every day. OSHA said a competent person must inspect parts workers will use before each shift and after events that…
Documents supporting asbestos flooring installation dates
A requester asked what would support a building owner’s claim that asphalt or vinyl flooring was installed after 1980. OSHA said blueprints, purchase orders, work orders, contracts, or manufacturer…
Minimum disaster unemployment benefits for July–September 1997
ETA supplied a state-by-state table of average weekly unemployment benefits, calculated 50 percent amounts, and rounded minimum Disaster Unemployment Assistance benefits. The figures applied to…
Federal position on remote unemployment claimstaking
ETA said its grants for telephone initial claims did not require states to adopt remote claimstaking as their single service method or imply that remote service was preferable to in-person service.…
Recirculating exhaust air in spray-finishing booths
An industrial-systems company asked OSHA to confirm when spray-booth exhaust could be recirculated to an occupied booth. OSHA said employers fully meeting NFPA 33-1995 specifications would not be…
Sharing OSHA case files for state or local criminal cases
An OSHA regional administrator asked what case-file information could be shared with a state attorney general in a criminal prosecution. OSHA said it would cooperate to the extent appropriate, while…
Seat belts and lights on older forklifts
A safety director asked which belts, alarms, and lights older lift trucks needed. OSHA said its standards did not require retrofitting older trucks with seat belts, backup alarms, strobes, or tail…
Welfare reform and employment and training services
ETA urged state job training and employment service agencies to coordinate with welfare agencies as the new TANF program began, while continuing services for other eligible job seekers. It described…
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These are official interpretive documents from the U.S. Department of Labor: opinion letters answering questions from employers and workers, administrative policies, and interpretive notices. They show how the agency applies wage-and-hour and workplace law to real situations, but they are guidance, not statutes or court decisions, and the agency can supersede or withdraw them. Every page above shows the document's current status, when that status was last verified, and a link to the official source.